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On the Importance of Mortality
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<blockquote data-quote="Carpe DM" data-source="post: 4029534" data-attributes="member: 677"><p>Carpe's Law: the chance of anyone reading a post 200 posts down in a list is infinitesimal compared to any effort expended in writing it.</p><p></p><p>That said, I'd like to chime in to support the OP. I'm a huge proponent of Open Rolling, for exactly this reason. The game is made up of the DM, the player, and the dice. </p><p></p><p>The First Sin of D&D is novel-writing: the DM is telling a story in which the players are spectators and the dice cannot change the outcome.</p><p></p><p>The Second Sin of D&D is circle-jerking: the DM and players are telling a story in which the players are doomed to triumph. (Yes, I meant that.)</p><p></p><p>Most of us avoid the First Sin. Almost none avoid the second. The dice save us. The dice inject raw chaos into the story. They are the source of terror and salvation. They can kill you, or they can give rise to the stories we retell over and over.</p><p></p><p>Now I'm really violating Carpe's law -- giving substantive, useful (I think) advice in a deep-buried thread. </p><p></p><p>I prepare for death in the game to avoid the cost to player development. I have to do a lot of work to weave death into the plot. Death makes my plots better. But it takes work. If you're willing to do the plot work, character death increases, not decreases the player's attachment to the character.</p><p></p><p>Both "death-is-the-end" and "death-is-a-revolving-door" are bad literary tropes. Both are wrong. Break out those literary chops, and make death mean something, but get the player back in the game. This is the single hardest and important job of the DM.</p><p></p><p>I even go so far as to develop an entire adventure -- scaleable to level -- that I will run in the event of a TPK. I am then eager to run that adventure. My players know it. They know I will kill them without batting an eye, and that death will make the game better. It makes for some hair-raising games.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Carpe DM, post: 4029534, member: 677"] Carpe's Law: the chance of anyone reading a post 200 posts down in a list is infinitesimal compared to any effort expended in writing it. That said, I'd like to chime in to support the OP. I'm a huge proponent of Open Rolling, for exactly this reason. The game is made up of the DM, the player, and the dice. The First Sin of D&D is novel-writing: the DM is telling a story in which the players are spectators and the dice cannot change the outcome. The Second Sin of D&D is circle-jerking: the DM and players are telling a story in which the players are doomed to triumph. (Yes, I meant that.) Most of us avoid the First Sin. Almost none avoid the second. The dice save us. The dice inject raw chaos into the story. They are the source of terror and salvation. They can kill you, or they can give rise to the stories we retell over and over. Now I'm really violating Carpe's law -- giving substantive, useful (I think) advice in a deep-buried thread. I prepare for death in the game to avoid the cost to player development. I have to do a lot of work to weave death into the plot. Death makes my plots better. But it takes work. If you're willing to do the plot work, character death increases, not decreases the player's attachment to the character. Both "death-is-the-end" and "death-is-a-revolving-door" are bad literary tropes. Both are wrong. Break out those literary chops, and make death mean something, but get the player back in the game. This is the single hardest and important job of the DM. I even go so far as to develop an entire adventure -- scaleable to level -- that I will run in the event of a TPK. I am then eager to run that adventure. My players know it. They know I will kill them without batting an eye, and that death will make the game better. It makes for some hair-raising games. [/QUOTE]
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